PopeWatch: Silence

Pope Francis has told a group of Jewish leaders “first it was your turn and now it is our turn” in a discussion about the persecution and murder of Christians in the Middle East.

The leader of the Catholic faith drew a comparison between the Jewish Holocaust and the current persecution of Christians in Syria and Iraq during a meeting with 40 Jewish leaders at the Vatican on Wednesday.

“Pope Francis told us privately that he believes we are in World War Three,” said Ronald S. Lauder, the head of the World Jewish Congress.

“But unlike the first two world wars, instead of happening all at once this war is coming in stages,” he said.

“[Pope Francis] said ‘first it was your turn and now it is our turn’. In other words first Jews suffered savage attacks that were met with the world’s silence and now it is Christians who are being annihilated and the world is silent.”

Go here to read the rest. It is good that Pope Francis understands that we are in a war. PopeWatch hopes that the Pope will also understand that until military action is taken against those slaying Christians, murders will not stop.

Donald R. McClarey

Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three and happily married for 35 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.

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12 Comments

Sounds so Fatalistic, doesn’t it? You had your turn now it’s our turn. As if this is the way it (history) goes …
As if history has a mind of its own.
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People are willing to accept responsibility for human action on weather, but not in human events.

Military action will not stop the slaughter, although it may put a lull in it. Conversion to Christ is the only way, and every generation must be converted and reminded that life without Christ is not so pleasant.
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Alas, the Church will not stand up for her teachings and seems every more inclined to bend and make compromises. (http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/bishop-tobin-changes-needed-in-approach-not-teaching-on-divorce/).
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Back in my more of less “trad” days, I remember reading an article about how Arianism confused the masses in the Middle East, and was one of the reasons that Islam was able to conquer it fairly rapidly. The West didn’t buy into Arianism as much, and managed to resist Islam. Now, however, the people are once again confused all sorts of flavors of Christianity that contradict each other, albeit in often fairly minor ways. Even within the Church, this group says this, that group says that. No uniformity. No insistence that “club members” obey the “club rules.” Islam is creeping up and gaining many “converts.” I am not sure the Church membership or hierarchy has the will to resist.

I don’t know that the world is necessarily silent on it, but rather somewhat dithering on what to do about it, exactly. The countries that should do something – Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, etc. – are either under siege themselves from other sides, being threatened overtly or covertly by powerful states (coughUScough), and some likely tacitly approve (coughSaudiArabiaTurkeyEgyptcough). The US itself is somewhat gunshy after the Iraq debacle, and quite possibly could make matters worse rather than better (a few stray bombs may miss their “ISIS” target and accidentally hit Assad – collateral damage and all that). So, it is not so much silence per se, as much as it’s complicated.

I do not see the pope’s view of history as being fatalistic. History is not as simple as many think. It is not merely a series of events and dates which occur in a straight line (with the presumption in the West of always tending toward progress). History is opaque and multi layered. As the prophets point out, and certainly the Lord Jesus affirmed, history is actually the interaction of the human race with the Living God. Given this, anyone who believes we are inexorably moving towards progress needs their head examined 😉

However, history is fundamentally divided. It is divided not according to the various divisions and categories which we place upon it, but within the human heart. There, the struggle of history, the fundamental battle for the world takes place. Of course, this is multiplied seven billion times, but in its most fundamental form and manifestation it is the divided human heart that reveals this-all one has to do is read Genesis 3-11 (especially Genesis 4), or Israel in the wilderness, or the ‘saga’ of Joshua-2 Kings and one sees it. It is manifest in the Gospel in its four forms, in the Book of Revelation, but perhaps the Scripture I return to most frequently when reflecting on this aspect of life is Romans 7. “I do not understand myself. I do what I do not intend to do and I do not do what I want to do” (paraphrase off the top of my head)

Further, faith reveals an even deeper dimension to history-that it is salvific, that there is One Lord of history and that ultimately ‘everything works out for the good for those who love Him”. His Sovereignty does not negate human freedom in any way. His Sovereignty includes and incorporates human freedom, even all the horrendous atrocities such as the Holocaust of the Jews and the terrible persecution of Christians now.-that is what the Pope was getting at.

Truth can be stranger than fiction. Congress just voted to arm and train all Islamist terrorists that are not ISIS Islamist terrorists.

I think Americans are silent for two reasons:

One. Because they get their news and views from lying (omission being their main tactic), liberal propagandists.

Does any of you know that recently a young, NJ Catholic man was murdered by a Muslim thug because of what America has done to Muslims; or that Australian police forces quashed a conspiracy of Oz Mussies to kidnap and behead a Christian all to be taped for social media?

You would if you watched FOXNEWS.

Two. Most Americans are cowards, morons or slaves to their vices.

Time will come when the worm turns. Then, Obama et al will wage total war on their true enemies: us.

World War III was the Cold War, which at times was not so cold. The USA and the USSR were opposing each other before Germany signed the surrender papers. The occupation of Central Europe and imposition of Communist dictatorships, the Korean War, the 1956 revolt in Hungary, Castro and the Cuban Revolution, the Berlin Wall, the crushed Czech uprising of 1968, the Vietnam War, the war in Afghanistan, missile defense, Solidarity and an unknown number of black operations – these made up the Third World War, which ended when the red hammer and sickle came down from the Kremlin on Christmas Day 1991 (not according to the Julian Calendar, but then, many Orthodox harbor a grudge against Catholicism that has lated for almost a thousand years).

The war between the West and Islam dates to 711. One would think Pope Francis would know Spanish history, as it figures prominently in Latin America’s discovery, conquest and evangelization. Unlike the Cold War, this war has not ended. It was predominantly Catholic Europe fought the Muslims and drove them out and back to Turkey. Centuries ago, the Church knew how to deal with Islam. The Second Vatican Council decided to scrap this historical knowledge.

Pope Francis, ever the loyal Second Vatican Council Pontiff, will NOT learn from the Church’s history of dealing with Islam. It is to his and our detriment. The VII document that claims Muslims worship the same God and preached tolerance and brotherhood with Islam is garbage. There, I said it again. Islam will not change. It understands a good, hard punch in the mouth and nothing else.

“ History is not as simple as many think. It is not merely a series of events and dates which occur in a straight line (with the presumption in the West of always tending toward progress). History is opaque and multi layered. As the prophets point out, and certainly the Lord Jesus affirmed, history is actually the interaction of the human race with the Living God. Given this, anyone who believes we are inexorably moving towards progress needs their head examined ￼ “
I agree with you completely Botolph. Especiall the interaction part. None of us think the story of human events is simple. Just as it is a misunderstanding of life to think we are inexorably moving toward “progress”, certainly thinking our turn to be persecuted has come around would be a misunderstanding of our responsibility in interacting with God and other people to shape human events.

More significantly, Jews and Christians are hated for the same reason.

As Pascal said, “To show that the true Jews and the true Christians have but the same religion – The religion of the Jews seemed to consist essentially in the fatherhood of Abraham, in circumcision, in sacrifices, in ceremonies, in the Ark, in the temple, in Jerusalem, and, finally, in the law, and in the covenant with Moses. I say that it consisted in none of those things, but only in the love of God, and that God disregarded [réprouvait]all the other things.